Production of mosaic maps



June 27,1944. E. A. scHucH ET AL PRODUCTION OF MOSAIC MAPS Filed Nov. 9,1943 ISLHND 940.10, E

W l TNESS e variations in the Patented June 27, 1944 PRODUCTION OFMOSAIC MAPS lward A. Schllch and Joseph F; Masino, Philadelphia, Pa.,assignors to Aero Service Corporation, Philadelphia. Pa., a corporationof Penn- Sylvania Application November 9, 194.3, Serial No. 509,558 9Claims.l (01.3351) The invention relates more particularly to the makingof .fsuch maps from a series of aerial photographs and is especiallydirected to facillitating'` preparationl of individual mosaics of 4 theunits of area into which the entire terrain e to be mapped is dividedtothereby enable such `units together- With an accompanyingindiciaoa'rrying border tor'be readily photographed as a preliminarytothe preparation of photographic reproductionsthereof or of printingplates for the purpose of massfreproduction.

In brief, the *procedure customarily followed in the preparation 'ofmosaic -mapsis vto take a series of overlapping aerial photographs ofthe area to be mapped in such way that each willY cover a portion of theterrain included in the preceding one. New negatives corrected for lheight ofthe plane5 its tilt and 'other factors aremade from theoriginal ones and from them suitable prints prepared. Through groundsurvey or in any other convenient way, prominent control points arelocated which are then plotted on a base preferably ruled in 'polyconicprojection with meridians of longitude and parallels of latitude todivide it into a plurality of substantially rectangular units ofsuitable size, such as 'l1/2 or 15 minutes on each side, depending onthe desired scale and by radial triangulation or other known methodsadditional control points are then plotted on the base.` The photographsare next cut and pasted on the base or its equivalent in propercoordination with the control points with resultant production of amosaic map of the entire area. Lines drawn on the map and coincidingwith the meridians and parallels on the baserdivide it into units and aborder of white paper carrying the indicia which it is desired to havesurround the individual map of the particular areaincluded in agivenunit when it is ultimately reproduced is then pasted around it. Theunit and its border are next photographed and the negative soobtainedused for production of either photographicreproductions orprinting plates of that particular unit and its surroundingindicia-carrying White border.

Necessarily the border pasted about the unit extends into the adjacentunits so that after the i'lrst unit and its border is photographed theborder must be removed entirely to expose all the areas included in theothers and other borders then mustl be consecutively pasted about eachof them preparatory to photographing and likewise subsequently removed.`These operations consume much labor and time.

` t is therefore a principal object of the present invention to improvethis customary procedure f from the point at which the control pointsare `plotted on the base by avoiding `preparationof the mosaic thereonand subsequent bordering and photographing of the individual unitscomprised therein, and to this end the invention contemplates thepreparation of individual mosaics of the areas comprised in severalunits yet in such manner that each will bear proper relation to theadjacentl units in the map as a Whole Vwhereby the individual mosaicsmay be then readily surrounded with indicia-carrying borders vpreparatory to their being photographed without overlapping any of theother units. Other objects, advantages and novel operations andprocedures comprehended by the-inf vention or resulting'therefrom arehereinafter more particularly pointed out or will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art from the following dev-scription of one method ofpractising it in the preparation lof a, mosaic map of a given area inpolyconic projection, reference beind had to the accompanying drawing.

In the said drawing,

Fig. l is a plan view of a base divided into units of latitude andlongitude with the outline of an area which is to be mapped indicatedthereon in dotted lines; v

Fig. 2 is a plan view on a much larger scale of one of the boards onwhich the mosaics of the units `comprised in the map are composedconditioned for beginning the actual mosaicing operation;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the board of Fig. 2 after the mosaic has beenformed thereon; Fig. 4 is an enlarged transverse section on the line'4-4 in Fig., 3 looking in the `direction of the arrows;`

1 ymarginal portion of the mosaic of Fig. 3 with its Fig. 5 is a detailplan view ofthe right hand vsupporting tape after removal from theboard;

Fig. 6 isanother board similar to Fig. 2 on which the formation of themosaic of the unit lying to the right of that shown in Fig. 3 'is inprocess; and

- Fig.r 7 is a plan View of the board of Fig. 3

' with the mosaic unit thereon surrounded by an indicia-carrying borderpreparatory to its being photographed for reproduction.

In the production of a map in accordance with the invention ythecustomary procedure is followed up to and including the operating ofplotting the control points p on the base B which is preferably of.sufficient size to include at the desired scale the entire area to bemapped. To facilitate explanation this area is outlined in dotted linesin Fig. 1 and for present purposes is assumed to be an island but itwill be understood that in practice the outline of the area is notnecessarily drawn on the base. The various control points areshown asplotted on the base as well as the parallels of latitude and meridiansof longitude which divide it into a plurality of units approximatingrectangles in shape and herein referred to as such. In practice theirsize is normally determined by the scale of the map; in the presentinstance they are shownas minutes on each side with nine. rectangles iinall consecutively numbered from 1 to 9.

A series of boards made of any suitable material such as press boardand, each considerably larger in size than the units are provided innumber suilicient to correspond to the number of the latter. It Will beassumed they are respectively numbered similarly to the units andconsequently -theboard,shown-in FigZ is VKdesignated as 5 to correspondto thecenter unit 5 on the base and thatl shown in Fig. 6 is numberedVto correspond to unit 6. l

YA rectangle corresponding in size to those on the base isruled at thecenter-of each board and strips oimaterial arethen neatly xed about Yits Ymargin so asfto denne Ior partially denne it.

Strong paperhaving a suitable adhesive onone -side and from 4 to 6 inWidth is preferably employed for thispurpose but other material -such ascloth may be utilized instead, and while it is of convenience to havethe adhesive applied to the material during Vcourse of manufacturematerial devoid of adhesive maybe used and suitably pasted on the board.For convenience, the'term tape is employed herein to designate -thisstrip material.

'Preferably-the ends of the tape are not overlapped but it is immaterialwhether'the longer lor longitudinal strips Ill, H be extended across theends of the transverse strips i2, `I3 or vice versa so long as therectangle is neatly and accurately bordered by the strips as a whole orin lsome cases only in part as will hereinafter be more fully explained.

After the tape has been applied to the several boards, tracings are madeon traoingcloth or the like respectively showing the control pointslying within each rectangleon base Band also some of those in contiguousrectangles, each tracing preferably covering an area on the basesubstantially equivalent to that included between the youter edges ofthe tapes on the boards. Thus a tracing of unit 5 `will extend into allthe other units on the base for a distance of 4 or 5" and when appliedto that board the control po-ints p shown on the tracing can be plottedthereon by prick-ing through the tracing cloth not only in the areabounded by the tapes but also on the tapes themselves Vso that when thetracing is removed the points will appear on the board and tapes asAshown in Fig. 2.

Using these control points, the operator then cuts and fits thecorrected photographs of the rarea included in unit 5 and extending ontothe surrounding tapes upon board 5 in the ordinary way in which mosaicsof this character are composed, pasting the photographs I5 down uponthemselves on theboard and tapes in somewhat .overlapping relation sothat after completion `of the ,mosaic an enlarged section on line 4-4in'Fig. 3 .will appear as in Fig. 4, photographs I5 .overlying atdifferent points I5 and being pasted to tape Il and the latter of courselying on and adhering to board 5.

A straight edge is next applied to the face of the mosaic coincidentwith the inner edges of the tapes, to wit along lines IU', Il', l2', I3and the mosaic cut through with a sharp blade along these lines, thusseparating Athose portions of pulling-it free whereby that portion ofthe mosaic bounded by'lines- HV-I 3 inclusive alone remains on theboard. If the cuts made along the inner edges' of the shorter tapes areterminated at the -inner edges of the longer ones the latter willinclude such portions of the mosaics as lay in prolongation of' theshorter tapes as shown in Fig. 5 and these portions may then be cut fromthe longer strips atthe points a-a'b-b inv Fig. 5, thereby reducing thecenter portion of the strip to a. length exactly corresponding to thatoi lthe mosaic on bo-ard 5 from whichl the tape was de tached. Ii,however, the cuts along inner edges Aoi the shorter stripsarecontinued'across the ends of the longer ones, as is sometimes thecase, thesquared corner pieces c of the tapes are removed separatelyfrom the board and carefully preserved.

It will now be apparent thatfthe portion of the mosaic on tape Ildelineates that part of the total area of the terrain which in thecomplete map thereof lies in unity 6 contiguous to unit V5; likewise,that the corresponding portion oi the mosaic on tapel lil representsthat contiguous o part of the terrain lying in unit 4 on the oppositeside of unit 5; that the portions of the mosaic on tapes I2, 'I3represent the contiguous areas of the terrain in units 2 and 8respectively, and the corner pieces c, those portions in the corners ofunits I, 3, 1 and 9 contiguous to the adjacent corners of unit 5.

The operator now selects another board on which to form a mosaic of' thearea included in one of vthe rectangles lying adjacent unit 5, forexample, that lying in unit 6. If this area will cover the entire centerrectangle ruled on board l6, the latter is taped on the three'sidesthereof which lie remote from the adjacent side of rectangle 5,'but ifthe area will cover only a portion of the central rectangle it isnecessary to into the central rectangle and adjacent tapes in a mannersimilar to that in which the control points were plotted on taped board5. The mosaic on tape Il is then stripped off by raising one of its endsand pulling it away from the tape and because of the overlappingrelation of portions of the photographs comprising the mosaic it can bereadily detached from the tape in a single piece. It is next pasted onboard 6 with its longitudinal edge coincident with that side of therectangle on the board which in the map area as a whole lies proximateunit 5. In other words, if the line separating units 5 and 6 cn base Bis as shown, the 91 meridian, the longitudinal edge of the detachedstrip of mosaic should coincide with that side of the rectangle on board6 representing that meridian, while its ends should coincide with theparallels 47 and 47 15" defining the .north and south edges ofrectangles and 6. The strip when thus pasted on the board serves as astarting point from which to complete with the assistance of the plottedcontrol points the remainder of the mosaic appearing in unit 6, thismosaic of course being extended out onto tapes Il and I8 just as thepreviously formed mosaic was extended onto tapes I2 and I3.

The mosaic is then severed along lines I'I', I8', tapes Il and I8stripped'from board 6 and the mosaics superposed on the tapesrespectively separated therefrom and applied in appropriate positions,preferably in conjunction with the corner pieces c of the originalmosaic formed on board 5 and covering the areas extending into units 3and 9, respectively to boards 3 and'9 after the control points have beenplotted thereon; the mosaics are then completed on these boards, againusing those portions of the mosaics transferred thereto from thepreceding boards as starting points. In a generally similar way thoseportions of the mosaics on tapes I0, I2 and I3 originally on board 5 arestripped fromtheir respective tapes, appropriately applied to boards 2,4 and 8, proper mosaics composed on these boards and marginal portionsof them applied to boards I and I and used as starting points for theirmosaics.

Of course the exact order followed in transferring the marginal portionsof the rst mosaic composed on one of the boards, that is, those portionsof that mosaic extending over its tapes, to the boards on which thecontiguous mosaics are to be assembled is a matter of choice, frequentlygoverned to some extent by the topographical features of the may itself,the location of the control points and other factors, but it will beapparent that after the initial mosaic is completed, as on board 5, andthe marginal portions thereof cut off, they can be applied to aplurality of other boards at once, and these placed in the hands ofdiierent operatives who can work simultaneously in completingthermosaics thereon. 'Ihis effects an enormous saving of time over thatrequired in rst composing on base B or some other equivalent surface amosaic of the entire area to be mapped since it is ordinarily impossiblefor more than two or three operatives to Work simultaneously inassembling it because of lack of space, mutual interference and thelike.

After the tapes are removed from each board so as to leave thereon onlythat portion of mosaic covering the terrain included in thecorresponding unit on the base and thus in `the case of board 5, forexample, that portion of the terrain lying between parallels 47 and 4715" and meridians 90 and 90 15, a strip of white paper or the likecarrying appropriate indicia such as figures showing the latitude andlongitude, declination arrows, bar scales, a diagram of the area ofwhich the included map forms a part, its number therein and the like(conventionally indicated on strip 20 in the drawing), is pasted aboutthe mosaic as shown in Fig. 7 and the latter, including this border ormargin, is then photographed preparatory to the making of photographicreproductions or printing plates from which the sheet may be reproducedin quantities. The border and enclosed mosaic may then be removed fromthe board to condition the latter for further use or retained on it forany desired period.

It will thus be apparent that the invention entirely obviates thedisadvantages inherent in the customary practice of pasting anindicia-carrying border about each rectangle as dened on the entiremosaic map so that it necessarily extends over portions thereofcontiguous to such rectangle preparatory to photographing it and theborder as a unit. Moreover the use of the marginal mosaic strips asstarting points in the preparation of the individual mosaics of whichthey form parts enhances accuracy of composition while, as above noted,the time required for completing the mapping of a given area may begreatly reduced by the practice of our invention over that which wouldnormally be required by the methods hitherto in vogue. The inventiontherefore marks a distinct advance 'in that branch of the art ofCartography to which it relates through enhancement of accuracy andreduction in time and cost.

While for the purpose of enabling those skilled in the art to comprehendand practise the invention one manner of performing it has been hereindescribed and illustrated in considerable detail, it will be understoodthat it is not thereby desired or intended to restrict or limit theinvention specifically thereto as the principles thereof are capable ofnumerous changes and modifications to adapt them to different operatingconditions and the like without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention as dened in the appended claims.

Having thus described our` invention, we claim and desire to protect byLetters Patent of the United States:

1. That improvement in the art of producing mosaic maps which comprisesthe steps of dividing a base into a plurality of substantiallyrectangular units by lines representing parallels and meridians andplotting on the base control points lying within the terrain to bemapped, dening on .each of a plurality of boards an area correspondingto one of said units, applying adhesive tape outwardly of and along atleast one edge of the dened area on each board, plotting appropriatecontrol points in said defined area and on the tape, assembling on thedefined area and on the tape by the aid of said plotted control points aphotographic mosaic of that portion of the terrain which lies in theunit on the base corresponding to said deiined area and in a portion ofthe `contiguous unit, cutting the assembled mosaic in coincidence withthe inner edge of the tape, stripping the tape and marginal portion ofthe mosaic superposed thereon from the board, separating said portionfrom the tape and applying it to another board having appropriatecontrol points plotted thereon with itscut edge representing theparallel or meridian separating the two contiguous units on the base,and then assembling on said second board a mosaic of the terraincontiguous to and in prolongation of said marginal portion to therebyform in conjunction therewith a complete mosaic of the terrain lying inthe said contiguous unit on the base.

2. That improvement in the art of producing mosaic maps which comprisesthe steps of dividing a base into a plurality of substantiallyrectangular units by lines representing parallels and meridians andplotting on the base control points lying within the terrain to bemapped, dening on each of a plurality of boards an area corresponding toone of said units, applying adhesive tape outwardly of and along atleast one edge of the dened area on each board, preparing a tracing ofcontrol points in two contiguous units on the base, applying the tracingto one of said boards with the points occupying the same relativeposition with respect to its deiined area as they occupy with respect tothe units on the base and marking said points through the tracing ontothe said area and taparernoving the tracing and assembling on thedeiined area and on the tape by the aid of said transferred controlpoints a photographic kmosaic of that portion of the terrain which liesin the unit on the base corresponding to said defined area and in aportion of the contiguous unit, cutting the assembled mosaic incoincidence with the inner edge of the tape, stripping the tape andmarginal portion of the mosaic superposed thereon from the board,separating said portion from the tape and applying it to another boardhaving appropriate control points plotted thereon with its cut edgerepresenting the parallel or meridian separating the two contiguousunits on the base, and then assembling on said seco-nd board a mosaic ofthe terrain contiguous to and in prolongation of said marginal portionto thereby form in conjunction therewith a complete mosaic of theterrain lying in the said contiguous unit on the base.

3. That improvement in the art of producing mosaic maps which comprisesthe steps of'plotting control points on the base ruled to deiine aplurality of contiguous unit areas, applying adhesive tape to aplurality of individual boards to respectively define and bound on eachat least in part an area corresponding to one of said unit areas,transferring to the so-dened area and adjacent tape on one of saidboards control points appearing in two contiguous areas on the base,assembling a photographic mosaic on said board and tape with the aid ofthe transferred control points, cutting the assembled mosaic incoincidence with the inner edge of the tape, stripping the latter andany marginal portions of the mosaic superposed thereon from the board,separating said portions from the tape and applying them respectively toother boards with their cut edges respectively corresponding to thelines on the first board along which the cuts were severally made, andlthen assembling on said other boards mosaics of the terrain contiguousto the portions of the said marginal portions of the original mosaicthereon to thereby form on each such board in conjunction with saidportions a complete mosaic of the terrain adjacent that included in themosaic remaining on the first board.

4. That improvement in the art of producing mosaic maps which comprisesthe steps of plotting control points on a base ruled to define aplurality of contiguous unit areas, applying adhesive tape to aplurality of individual boards to respectively define and bound on eachat least in part an area corresponding to one of said unit areas,transferring t the so-deflned area and adjacent tape on one of saidboards control points appearing in two contiguous areas on the base,assembling a photographic mosaic on said board and tape with the aid ofthe transferred control points, cutting the mosaic on lines coincidentwith the inner edge of the tape, stripping the tape from the board whileleaving the mosaic in the defined area thereon, surrounding said mosaic4with an indicia-carrying border, and photographing it and the border asa unit as a preliminary step in preparing reproductions thereof.

5. That improvement in the art of producing mosaic maps which comprisesthe steps of plotting control points on the base ruled to deiine aplurality of contiguous unit areas, applying adhesive tape to aplurality of individual boards to respectively denne and bound on eachat least in part an area corresponding to one of said unit areas,transferring to the so-defined area and adjacent tape on one of saidboards control points appearing in two contiguous areas on the base,assembling a photographic mosaic on said board and tape with the aid ofthe transferred control points, cutting the assembled mosaic incoincidence with the inner edge of the tape, stripping the latter andany mar-ginal portions of the mosaic superposed thereon from the board,separating said portions from the tape and applying them respectively toother boards with their cut edges respectively corresponding to thelines on the first board along which the cuts were severally made,assembling on said other boards mosaics of the terrain contiguous to theportions of the said marginal portions of the original mosaic thereon tothereby iform on each such board in conjunction with said portions acomplete mosaic of the terrain adjacent that included in the mosaicremaining on the first board, and then cutting said last formed mosaicsalong predetermined lines at the boundaries of said deiined areas,removing the marginal portions from the boards, surrounding eachremaining portion with an appropriate indicia-carrying border andphotographing each such portion and its border as a unit.

6. That improvement in the art of producing mosaic maps which comprisesthe steps of ruling a base into substantially rectangular units on ascale representing a predetermined distance on a side and plotting onthe base control points lying within the terrain to be mapped, applyingadhesive tape to a plurality of individual boards to define thereon atleast in part included areas corresponding to the units, selecting oneof said boards for the preparation of a mosaic map of the terrain lyingwithin a given unit on the base, plotting in the deiined area on saidboard control points corresponding to those in the given unit on thebase and plotting on the tape other control points lying in a unitcontiguous to the given unit, assembling with the aid of said controlpoints on said defined area and tape a photographic mosaic of theterrain lying in the given unit and in that part of the contiguous unitproximate thereto, cutting the mosaic along the boundaries of thedefined area, stripping the tape and superposed marginal portion of themosaic from the board, separating said marginal portion from the tapeand applying it to another board with its cut edge representing the lineon the base between said contiguous units and then, using said marginalportion of the mosaic as a starting point, assembling on the secondboard additional mosaic representing terrain in the said contiguousunit.

"I, That improvement in the art of producing mosaic maps which comprisesthe steps of forming on a supporting surface having control pointsplotted thereon a mosaic of a part of the entire terrain to be mapped,defining a rectangular portion of the mosaic by cutting through thelatter on right lines, removing from said surface any portions of themosaic lying outside said rectangular portion, then applying anindicia-carrying border to said surface about said latter portion,

and finally photographing it and the border as a unit as a preliminaryto reproduction.

8. That improvement in the art of producing mosaic maps which comprisesthe steps of forming on a supporting surface having control pointsplotted thereon a mosaic of a part of the entire terrain to be mapped,dening in the mosaic a rectangular portion by cutting through the mosaicon right lines, transferring one of the marginal portions of the mosaiclying outside the so-dei'ined portion to another supporting surface, andforming thereon an additional mosaic in prolongation of and conti-guousto the transferred portion.

9. That improvement in the art of producing mosaic maps which comprisesthe steps of forming on a supporting surface having control pointsplotted thereon a mosaic of a part of the entire terrain to be mapped,defining in the mosaic a rectangular portion by cutting through themosaic on right lines, transferring one or the marginal portions of themosaic lying outside the so-dened portion to another supporting surfaceand forming thereon an additional mosaic in prolongation of andcontiguous to the transferred portion to cover at least in part an areathereon corresponding to that of the rectangular portion, severing andremoving any marginal portions of the last-formed mosaic extendingbeyond that area, and then surrounding said mosaic with anindicia-carrying border preparatory to photographing the border andincluded area as a pre- 15 liminary to reproduction.

EDWARD A. SCHUCH. JOSEPH F. MASINO.

